


Terminus

by cathouse_mary



Category: Kuroshitsuji | Black Butler, Kuroshitsuji: The Musical #2
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-24
Updated: 2012-09-24
Packaged: 2017-11-14 22:26:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/520156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cathouse_mary/pseuds/cathouse_mary
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the events in the musical, what happens when the deathless gods die?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Terminus

They find the bodies, empty shells, the souls fled into whatever path is designated for their kind. They have been left by the demon as they fell, Alan Humphries in Eric Slingby’s arms. In terms of reapers, Eric and Alan were very young and their deaths are a shocking loss. Reapers are supposed to be immortal, invulnerable to all but a straight heart-strike with a scythe.

Eric would never have willingly struck Alan, no matter how mad he’d gone. Eric’s deathstroke was given by Alan’s scythe, wielded by the demon. Will can read this like a death note, and he feels equal parts horror, disbelief, and responsibility. That one would consciously choose, even mad with grief, to follow another into death is… or had been until now… unthinkable. William orders the bodies brought home, carrying Eric’s remains himself. They have no idea what to do, else. Grell and Ronald, for once, are silent. 

There are no rites, no rituals, for the disposition of remains. The only reassurance they have is that the library records the archiving of Humphries, Alan and Slingby, Eric in the very small section reserved for the fallen their kind. Their souls have returned to the Stella Maris, but it is no comfort.

They can now say that they understand the humans’ grief. Grell blames himself, the evidence was there, and bringing the demon into it can be said to have been the direct cause of Eric’s and Alan’s deaths. William takes a large helping of the blame, he should have yanked Eric to desk duty on whatever pretext he could scrape up, or assigned him to Newgate, or even transferred him to a tour aboard the Flying Dutchman. Ronald is only silently confused; his idolized seniors are dead and they shouldn’t be.

Their desks are empty, the telephones ring unanswered, their voices are not where they are supposed to be. The loss, the absence of them is a wound in the world. Their glasses and watches sit in William’s desk drawer. If only Slingby and Humphries had left their glasses on, William would have been able to track them. Instead the demon, loosed by its master, found their scent. 

He and Grell with Ronald bring the bodies down to the water’s edge, the edge of the Soul Sea that gave them all birth. It seems fitting to return that flesh in death. A reaper’s flesh is immortal, and doesn’t decay, only the gaping wounds that stopped their hearts and bled out their lives remain - dry and grotesque. With scissors, he and Grell cut away the clothing worn in life, then fold Alan’s body into Eric’s arms again.

The three of them watch from the rocks above the high tide line, waiting until the waves come in and the blood-warm water covers Eric and Alan’s bodies. The moons rise and set, the tide begins to ebb, and when it goes out again nothing remains but the smooth sands.

~ End

**Author's Note:**

> I realize I have not been around that often, mostly because my WIPs are being posted on my tumblr writing blog - http://twodollarepistolary.tumblr.com/


End file.
